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Bumping case up. This case has always intrigued me. I wonder if they had questioned the husband? She was staying with her parents and she was from Sanford,Fl. It would make sense if the husband came to town he may have stayed at a motel like the Days Inn. He could have taken her car there and took his. This doesnt seem random to me.

There is quite a bit more detail in the newspaper articles that were published shortly after her disappearance. They are scanned images and lengthy, so I cannot transcribe but you can find them in the google news archives by searching her name.

Firstly, the articles list her date of disappearance as 5/27, not 5/26.

According to the articles, she had just started a new job at a tourist attraction/restaurant called the Kapok Tree in Clearwater. She had received her first paycheck and went to the Ramada Inn Lounge after work to celebrate. (She had told her parents not to worry if she came home late)

They actually do not know that she left the lounge in her Chevelle - the articles state that she sat at the Ramada Inn for about 25 minutes, sipped half of her drink, then excused herself from the table to use the restroom. What happened after that is a mystery, she never came back.

When her co-workers were asked what happened to her, they claimed they knew nothing other than that she had left her place of employment the night before.

A few days later they found the car in the parking lot of the Days Inn in Tarpon Springs, and there was blood spatter on the front seat. It was Type O blood but they could not determine if it was O Positive, which is Patty's type. They said there was enough blood that whoever it belonged to had suffered a severe injury. Her purse and shoes were in the car, her keys were missing.

Several volunteer organizations with four-wheelers searched the terrain from Clearwater to Pasco (includes Tarpon Springs) and found no signs of her.

(The above is paraphrased by me)

This brings up a lot of questions.

Was there an exit near the bathrooms? Were her friends not phased by the fact that she got up to use the restroom but never came back?

When they found the blood spatter, did it look like she had been sitting in the driver's seat at the time? Were the seats and mirrors adjusted to her height?

Did she ever go inside the Days Inn?

A couple other things I noticed while searching.

According to the website of the Days Inn, there is a lake directly across the street. There was no mention of the lake being searched, just the ground. Would any sign of her have lasted this long, in a lake? Would it be useful to try using sonar now?

Also, there was an unrelated article published on the day of her disappearance about two male scam artists who had been preying on bystanders that were willing to help out a stranger. Part of the scam involved asking the bystander (victim) for a ride, and later giving the victim some wacky story which would convince the victim to give them money. It did not appear that the scam artists had harmed anyone, but the incidents in the article were cases where the victims fell for the scam and handed over money, and one of the victims drove the scam artists to the same Ramada Inn Lounge two days before Patty disappeared. I wonder what the scam artists would have done if someone caught on to the scam, and threatened to call the police?

Lastly, there was another group of unrelated articles at that same time that stated there were problems at the place Patty was working. One of the directors had just been terminated for mishandling of funds, and he also had prior fraud suits filed against him. He had a part ownership in the business, and after he was terminated, his female partner's step-children were fighting her, they felt they should be entitled to his share. I don't know what position Patty held at the Kapok Tree, but if it was something to do with finance, she may have known something or reported his mishandling of funds??

There is quite a bit more detail in the newspaper articles that were published shortly after her disappearance. They are scanned images and lengthy, so I cannot transcribe but you can find them in the google news archives by searching her name.

Firstly, the articles list her date of disappearance as 5/27, not 5/26.

According to the articles, she had just started a new job at a tourist attraction/restaurant called the Kapok Tree in Clearwater. She had received her first paycheck and went to the Ramada Inn Lounge after work to celebrate. (She had told her parents not to worry if she came home late)

They actually do not know that she left the lounge in her Chevelle - the articles state that she sat at the Ramada Inn for about 25 minutes, sipped half of her drink, then excused herself from the table to use the restroom. What happened after that is a mystery, she never came back.

When her co-workers were asked what happened to her, they claimed they knew nothing other than that she had left her place of employment the night before.

A few days later they found the car in the parking lot of the Days Inn in Tarpon Springs, and there was blood spatter on the front seat. It was Type O blood but they could not determine if it was O Positive, which is Patty's type. They said there was enough blood that whoever it belonged to had suffered a severe injury. Her purse and shoes were in the car, her keys were missing.

Several volunteer organizations with four-wheelers searched the terrain from Clearwater to Pasco (includes Tarpon Springs) and found no signs of her.

(The above is paraphrased by me)

This brings up a lot of questions.

Was there an exit near the bathrooms? Were her friends not phased by the fact that she got up to use the restroom but never came back?

When they found the blood spatter, did it look like she had been sitting in the driver's seat at the time? Were the seats and mirrors adjusted to her height?

Did she ever go inside the Days Inn?

A couple other things I noticed while searching.

According to the website of the Days Inn, there is a lake directly across the street. There was no mention of the lake being searched, just the ground. Would any sign of her have lasted this long, in a lake? Would it be useful to try using sonar now?

Also, there was an unrelated article published on the day of her disappearance about two male scam artists who had been preying on bystanders that were willing to help out a stranger. Part of the scam involved asking the bystander (victim) for a ride, and later giving the victim some wacky story which would convince the victim to give them money. It did not appear that the scam artists had harmed anyone, but the incidents in the article were cases where the victims fell for the scam and handed over money, and one of the victims drove the scam artists to the same Ramada Inn Lounge two days before Patty disappeared. I wonder what the scam artists would have done if someone caught on to the scam, and threatened to call the police?

Lastly, there was another group of unrelated articles at that same time that stated there were problems at the place Patty was working. One of the directors had just been terminated for mishandling of funds, and he also had prior fraud suits filed against him. He had a part ownership in the business, and after he was terminated, his female partner's step-children were fighting her, they felt they should be entitled to his share. I don't know what position Patty held at the Kapok Tree, but if it was something to do with finance, she may have known something or reported his mishandling of funds??

I'm not sure the exact year the Kapok Tree opened in Clearwater on McMullen Booth Rd. It was in the mid to late 70's. Kapok Tree was a restaurant with gardens, the original was in St Petersburg area and this was the second that they opened. There was also a banquet hall where people had their wedding receptions because of the beauty of the gardens and the kapok trees. It's not there any more and has been replaced by a thoroughbreed (sp?) music store. Ruth Eckerd Hall is directly behind the side.

The Ramada Inn in mention had a lounge and a comedian show (G David Howard?).

The lake you mentioned is in Anderson Park I believe and is part of Lake Tarpon. Lake Tarpon is a HUGE lake. Not sure if it was ever searched.

She was from Tarpon, graduated from Tarpon High the article says. I 'm curious if there was anything wrong with her car when they found it at Days Inn. Possible scenario that she could have pulled over at Days Inn on the way home because A)car problem or B) she saw something or someone and wanted to check it out, and was attacked there.

She fits the same M.O. as at least two others from Florida in the 70's.
Petite, long blondish hair, last seen at a motel.

My theory is a serial killer who lured her.

The only way I could see it was a serial killer is if she a) met them at Ramada and they asked for a ride and she said she was going to Tarpon Springs or b)she picked them up hitch hiking on the way home and said she was going as far as Tarpon Springs. She lived in Tarpon Springs so she was on her way home and I can't see that she left of her own free will and her blood (if it is her blood) wound up in the drivers seat and her abductor forced her to drive the same way that she lived.

Plus, they didnt take her car so I don't see an abduction because they would have left her in the car and taken off, not gone to the trouble of hiding the body and then left on foot.

Kapok was beautiful! I think my high school even had their prom there in 85. My parents used to take us there and then it was the place to go on dates in the mid 80's.

The Days Inn in Tarpon is empty and for sale now. I'm trying to remember what restaurant was there in the front of the motel. Curious if it was a 24 hr restaurant. Someone had to have seen something. BTW, Waffle House is right next door which is 24 hours and directly behind Waffle House is a trailer park, a very very seedy trailer park.

The Ramada Inn at that time was on US Hwy 19 about half way between Gulf to Bay and Drew Street on the East side of US 19. It's a different Hotel name now.

Thanks, I didn't think that looked like the right one. I'll work up a better map tomorrow.

I'm not sure whether that's the right Days Inn, also. The Days Inn website lists that address, but Google doesn't show it there. I guess if it's empty and for sale that would explain google -- or did they relocate also? (So good to have a local resource.)

Opinions expressed are strictly my own (who else would they belong to???)